Solid body stringed musical instruments such as electric guitars, among others, are conventionally manufactured by sculpting a body from suitable wooden material, to which are subsequently mounted a neck, electronic hardware and strings. The process is completed by subjecting the guitar to conventional finishing steps such as painting and polishing for the purpose of improving the aesthetical appearance of the instrument.
The above manufacturing technique has numerous drawbacks. For example, it is very difficult to obtain, into a single production run, two guitars that have identical sound characteristics because the grain orientation of the wood is different from one guitar body to another, thus resulting in instruments that resonate slightly differently. In addition, the wood sculpting operation for making the body of the instrument is an expensive and a time-consuming step.